local carton printing and folding plant a &ldquogood asset and well positioned&rdquo in transfer cascadescascades plant to be solddominik wisniewski northumberland news cobourg cascades inc., a leader in the recovery of recyclable materials and the manufacturing of green packaging and tissue paper products, announced on dec. 11 that it has reached an agreement for the sale of its north american boxboard manufacturing and converting assets to u.s.based graphic packaging holding company for 44.9 million. the sale of five facilities includes a plant in cobourg which employs 101 workers that print and fold cartons used in the food, beverage and retail industies, such as cereal boxes. december 11, 2014cobourg the proposed sale of cascades&rsquo norampac division to a u.s.based company early next year would include a carton printing and folding plant in cobourg.home to 101 employees, the northam industrial park plant is one of five being sold by cascades to u.s.based graphic packaging holding company for 44.9 million.in addition to the cobourg location, the transaction includes the sale of two mills in quebec, a plant in mississauga and a plant in winnipeg, manitoba.the five plants employ approximately 670 workers.cascades&rsquo vicepresident of communications and public affairs hugo d&rsquoamours told the news the move to sell its entire north american boxboard operation is a strategic decision.&ldquowe&rsquore looking at where we want to be in the future, which sectors we want to invest and concentrate our efforts,&rdquo he said.asked about the potential impact the sale could have on local jobs, he said there are no guarantees in the industry today, adding the cobourg plant is &ldquodefinitely a good asset and well positioned.&ldquographic packaging were definitely looking to expand in the canadian market where they have no facility yet,&rdquo mr. d&rsquoamours said. &ldquotomorrow, next week and next month it&rsquos not going to change anything. we&rsquoll still be operating those units as we did in the past, because the acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions and a regulatory review.&rdquohe said he expects the transfer to occur sometime in february or march of 2015.&ldquoi think it&rsquos well positioned and obviously i can&rsquot speak on behalf of graphic packaging, but i certainly believe that if they are investing that amount of money to acquire those units, it&rsquos probably because they have plans for them,&rdquo he added.the cascades boxboard container plant in cobourg prints and folds cartons that are used in the food, beverage and retail industries, such as cereal boxes.in a statement released on dec. 11, norampac president and ceo marcandré dépin thanked the employees for their services.&ldquothe investments made in past years in these boxboard manufacturing and converting units have led to an opportunity to create synergies with a player such as graphic packaging,&rdquo he said. &ldquoby exiting this sector of activity in north america, cascades and norampac are turning a page in their history.&rdquofounded in 1964, cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibres.cascades employs close to 12,000 men and women, who work in 100 production units in north america and europe. 
